


Low Earth Orbit

by versaphile



Category: Legion (TV)
Genre: Alters, Angst, Character Study, David Haller POV, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Episode Related, Episode s03e05: Chapter 24, F/M, Kind of a fix-it, Legion POV, Missing Scene, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-18 21:02:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20319457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/versaphile/pseuds/versaphile
Summary: There are no true divisions between layers of the atmosphere, and there is no true division between David and Legion. But divisions can still be perceived. A missing perspective from Chapter 24.





	Low Earth Orbit

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to mossomness for betaing!

When they've disposed of Clark and the soldiers, Legion finds Syd. She's asleep in her bed, her hair falling over her shoulder. Her shirt has ridden just a bit too high, but they don't look at the soft, familiar skin of her belly. They're here for one thing and one thing only: Switch.

Two things, they remind themselves. Switch and Farouk.

They turn away and look outside the airship. It's peaceful up here. Without any atmosphere, the stars are so clear. 

_Dad would be jealous_, one of Legion murmurs. 

_He wasn't our real dad_, another hisses, angry, sulking. _He doesn't matter._

_Amy,_ whines another, mournful and quiet. _Lenny._

_Shut up_, hisses another. _Focus. When we're done, they'll all be safe._

"You shouldn't have trusted him," they say, as Syd wakes up.

'Shit,' Syd thinks, very quietly. She sits up. "Who?"

Legion turns to her. "Farouk. He called me." 

_It's a trap_, one of Legion mutters.

_They can't touch us,_ gloats another. _We're god._

Legion expects her to start yelling again, blaming them for everything Farouk did to them, telling them they don't deserve to be saved. She was so angry the last time they saw her. She made all of Legion very upset, some of them are still upset. They've been trying to be calm and focused, to keep a clear head, but it's hard when there's so much noise, so much anger and pain and--

"He didn't like our plan," Syd says. 'Focus,' she thinks. "Did you find her?"

"Switch? No, I can't see her," they say, confused by Syd's calm. What's she up to? They step away, wary.

"Cary built a tank," Syd says, as she pulls on a sweater. Her hair has gotten so long since-- "She's in the lab."

_It's a trick_, warns one of Legion.

_It's a trap_, warns another.

_She hates us_, warns another.

_Syd_, whines another, yearning. No, not another, that's-- That's David. Himself. He--

_We_, Legion replies, crowding every inch of their mind. There is no David anymore, only Legion. 

"Did you ever think you'd go to space?" Syd asks, and walks up to the window.

"Why would you do that?" Legion asks, suspicious. "Tell me where she is?"

Syd turns to face them. "You're gonna find her anyway.”

_Careful_, warns one of Legion.

_She'll hurt us,_ warns another. 

_Send her into space,_ says another, eagerly.

_No_, David thinks, pushing back, upset. _Let her talk._

"I'm not mad anymore," Syd says, looking at them with calm, with sadness, but no anger. "I was. But I get it now. You can't love halfway."

"Syd," Legion says, uncertain.

_Could she mean it?_ David wonders.

_She's lying,_ Dvd warns, angry. _Kill the bitch!_

_Don't be delusional,_ Divad warns, annoyed. _She'll never forgive us, ever. Starting over will fix you and her._

"David," Syd says, softly. She gives a slight shake of her head, warning him.

"I'm gonna change the past," Legion tells her, as Divad pushes David back into the crowd. "Don't worry, none of this will happen. Only good." They press their hands together, promising. "Good things."

Syd isn't listening. "Did you kill everyone?" 

Dvd surges forward, smug and delighted at the frozen bodies outside. They tilt their head and hum. And then it's Divad, wanting Syd to understand. "No one who dies is really dead. You see that, right? The past changes and the future--" They wave their hands. "Disappears." And then David struggles forward. "So Clark, Lenny, we all--" Another one of Legion moves in, child-like, giddy. "--get a do-over."

"What happened to Lenny?" Syd asks.

Their heart sinks. Several of Legion scream with rage and grief, some start to cry. "She abandoned me," they say, their voice catching. But they won't cry, not where Syd can see. They step back, needing distance. "Like my parents. Like you."

"No, no," Syd says, and there's her anger. "No, you left me. Remember?"

_Bullshit_, one of Legion sneers.

_Liar_, sneers another

_She's always blaming us,_ says another, upset. 

"I listened to you," they say, with forced calm. 

_Kill her!_ snarls one of Legion.

"I trusted you," they say.

_Traitor!_ one of Legion screams, furious. _She never loved us, never!_

"I know," Syd sighs. But she steps closer. "It's not fair. I was jealous of myself. Isn't that crazy?"

_Don't let her near us,_ warns one of Legion.

_Maybe she means it?_ asks another, hopeful.

"I should have trusted you," Syd continues. "But she showed me things. Melanie."

"You mean Farouk showed you things," Legion corrects. Does she still not know the truth? Was she that far under Farouk's spell the whole time?

"He put ideas in my head that you betrayed me," Syd says. "That you were evil. And I believed him. Now look at us."

They stare at Syd, and she stares back.

"You left me," Syd says again, but this time-- It's like she's asking them to come back.

_No, not us,_ David thinks. _Me. She wants me._

_No,_ says Legion, refusing. But David pushes forward anyway, ignoring them, forcing them back.

"To fix things," he says, needing her to understand. He steps forward and she doesn't move away. "To be with you."

"Well, it doesn't matter," Syd says, lightly. "Cause you're gonna change everything." And she smiles at them, just a little. At him.

_Too close,_ Legion warns, but David ignores them. He needs this. He needs Syd. If she wants him back, maybe--

"So none of this will happen?" Syd says, asks, a little sad.

David shakes his head, his regret surfacing as his sense of self gets stronger. 

"We'll never meet," she says. "Or fall in love."

_I'll find you,_ David thinks, but doesn't say. Maybe he doesn't deserve her, not even without-- She'll be so much better without him. Everyone will be better without him, even himself.

_It'll be over soon,_ Legion soothes. _The pain will stop._

_We stop Farouk and it all goes away,_ promises Divad.

"Do you think that it hurts?" Syd asks, tearful. 

"What?" David whispers, throat tight with grief.

"Being erased," Syd whispers, eyes pleading.

"Syd," David pleads. 

"It's okay," Syd says, even though she's crying. "I want another chance, too. I love you."

David stares, stunned. "I love you," he says, it's the only thing he can say. He smiles and she smiles, and it feels like a moment of grace.

And then she reaches up and touches his cheek.

There's a familiar, awful feeling of being ripped away, and then-- David's alone. Legion is gone. Ever since they got Farouk out, he's been surrounded by them, supported, guided, controlled-- And now he's been dropped into a freezing ocean, with no one around for hundreds of miles, no hope of rescue. 

"It's okay, David," Syd says, in his body. 

"No!" David moans, falling, drowning in the empty cold--

"It's okay, don't fight," Syd says, and hauls him out into the hall, through it. 

David struggles but he's weak and alone and everything feels wrong and he's terrified and-- And then there's some of his girls, their girls, from the commune. They smile when they see him, but-- They smile at Syd.

"Did we do good, Daddy?" they ask.

"No, no," David pleads.

"I'm sorry, it's not your fault, it's mine," Syd tells them, distracting them as-- "Kerry!"

Kerry slices through them, cutting them down in an instant. 

"No," David begs. He can't-- This isn't-- He has to--

"Wait, it's me, Syd," Syd warns Kerry. "I'm in David's body." But then she groans.

"What's happening?" 

"He's fighting me," Syd says, urgent. "I don't know how much longer I can hold him."

This is a nightmare. David's had this exact nightmare before, he knows it. Syd's going to kill him and then swap back and then-- He'll just-- He'll be like Farouk, no body, trapped and-- She's going to turn him into Farouk, _no no no no no--_

He doesn't want that, he doesn't, 

Syd drops to her knees. "Kill me," she demands.

_Let me die,_ David thinks, pleading. He doesn't want this. He doesn't want-- Lenny, no, he-- What did he do to her, to all of them-- Why did he-- He just wanted to-- 

The regret and grief get stronger, stronger, without Legion to stop it. His pain surges, crowds into every inch of his mind. He's worthless garbage, why did he think he deserves a second chance, his parents don't want him, why would anyone ever want him, he ruins everything, look what happened to Amy, to Lenny, to Syd. no no no, he didn't mean it, he should have just killed himself, he'll never be safe, he'll never fix anything, he's a monster, he's monstrous, he's the monster--

"Kill? Kill you-you or-- Or him-you?" Kerry asks, confused.

"His body," Syd says, firmly. "This body. Kill it."

"But you're in there," Kerry says, upset.

"I'll jump back," Syd promises, and braces herself.

"No," David begs, pawing at her. He doesn't want to die, please--!

But it's too late. Kerry lifts her sword and swings it down and-- Syd catches it?

"Too late," she says, and snaps the blade. And then with a wave of her hand, she sends Kerry flying back, crashing against the far wall.

David doesn't understand. What's happening? And then--

"Come back to us, David," Syd says, no-- _Legion_ says. "Come back." And they reach out and--

They pull him back into the warm, crowded, noisy space of their mind. They hold him close, everyone trying to touch him at once, relieved and needing, pulling away all his pain and grief, smothering it. For a moment, there is no David at all. Only _Legion, Legion, Legion_.

And then they step back and David exists again.

_We stopped her,_ they tell him. _She'll never take you away from us again._

_No,_ David pleads. _What did you do?_

_We threw her mind away,_ Dvd boasts, smug. 

_She can't trick us if she can't think,_ Divad says, proud.

_It's safe for you now,_ they tell him. _It's time. Get Switch._

It's an order. David swims in an out of existence, in and out of Legion, then he sees Syd lying on the floor, her body empty and--

Legion bends down, grieving. "I'm sorry," they whisper, horrified and angry and sad and gleeful, as all of them feel and feel and feel.

"I'll fix it," David promises, they all promise. 

They'll fix it. Legion will fix everything. David just has to do what he's told, or better yet, let Legion do it. And until everything's fixed, they'll keep him safe. 

"I promise."

Legion rises and spreads their arms. It's time to stop the monster and save the world.


End file.
